This week Oxfam enlisted Kate Moss to help mark its 75th year, with the supermodel donning designer outfits from the British charity's online shop for a series of glamorous images shot by top photographer David Bailey.

Also this week Oxfam launched its annual report into wealth inequality around the world in which it claimed the world's richest 1 per cent took 82 per cent of all the wealth generated last year.

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It then tweeted: 'We have an extreme form of capitalism that only works for those at the top. That is why we are calling for governments to manage economies so they work for everyone and not just the fortunate few.'

The charity enlisted Kate Moss to help mark its 75th year, with the supermodel donning designer outfits from the British charity's online shop for a series of glamorous images, which were released this week

The charity faced a backlash from economists and academics who said capitalism had helped to lift millions out of poverty.

And Twitter user Colin Fisher said: 'Your disingenuous, or possibly woefully ignorant, stance on capitalism means that I will never make a donation to your pressure group again.'

Tony Allwright tweeted: 'Oxfam, your overriding priority is clearly to ensure as many people remain – or get – poor as possible, so that Oxfam and its executives remain in flourishing, lucrative business. Nothing else explains Oxfam's hatred of poverty-destroying capitalism.'

Oxfam responded by tweeting that it was a 'secular, non-party political organisation' working to overcome poverty and suffering, and that Mr Goldring was paid less for his 'complex' role than many counterparts at other large charities, or chief executives in the private sector.

It said: 'As an organisation committed to ending poverty and inequality, Oxfam is very aware that we must not allow senior pay to escalate by more than necessary to recruit and retain staff of the quality we need.'

The charity has previously faced criticism that it was pursuing a political agenda. In 2014, Conservative MP Conor Burns complained to the Charity Commission after Oxfam tweeted a mock film poster which attacked the Tory party's austerity measures as 'the perfect storm'. Fellow Tory Priti Patel branded the charity 'a mouthpiece for Left-wing propaganda'.

The Charity Commission investigated Mr Burns's complaint and warned Oxfam that its tweet 'could be misconstrued by some as party political campaigning'. Charity Commission rules say charities can campaign against policies but must not be politically partisan or support political parties.

Oxfam has several links to the Labour Party. David Pitt-Watson, its honorary treasurer, was the party's finance director from 1997 to 1999.

Labour MP Stephen Doughty previously worked for Oxfam and was head of Oxfam Wales in 2011, and the murdered Labour MP Jo Cox was a former head of advocacy at the charity.